What is it about?
Helicobacter pylori colonization of the human stomach is a risk factor for development of gastric cancer. Only a small proportion of H. pylori-infected persons develop gastric cancer. This article discusses the variation that exists among H. pylori strains and describes strain-specific features of the organism that are linked to development of gastric cancer.
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Why is it important?
Stomach cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and is the only example of a human malignancy that is attributable to a bacterial infection. This article reviews efforts to understand why gastric cancer develops in a small proportion of H. pylori-infected persons, while most others remain asymptomatic.
Perspectives
Early studies were successful in identifying several features of H. pylori strains that were associated with increased gastric cancer risk (for example, production of CagA, presence of the cag pathogenicity island, or the presence of specific allelic variants of a vacuolating toxin gene). This article discussed recent efforts to identify additional features of H. pylori strains that are epidemiologically associated with gastric cancer, and describes evidence from cell culture and animal models linking these factors to gastric cancer pathogenesis.
Dr Timothy L Cover
Vanderbilt University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Helicobacter pyloriDiversity and Gastric Cancer Risk, mBio, January 2016, ASM Journals,
DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01869-15.
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